CLIMEX Version 4 Training

Training

CLIMEX Version 4

Paris, France, 30 August to September 2, 2016

CLIMEX is one of the most powerful computer-based tools available to pest risk assessors and ecologists to explore the geographical effects of climate on organisms. Using CLIMEX you can explore a species’ potential distribution under current and future climate scenarios. New features include the ability to explore seasonal climate suitability through space and time, and the effects of inter-annual variation in climate suitability. CLIMEX now automates the generation of parameter sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, and provides the ability to automate some of the parameter-fitting tasks.

Presenter: Prof. Darren Kriticos, CSIRO and The University of Queensland

Venue: Headquarters of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation

Maximum number of participants 12 (selected on first come first served basis)

Cost: €2000.00

Inclusions: Four days tuition, tea/coffee and light lunch. Participants will be given tutorial materials, a digital copy of the user guide, and a temporary (3-month) licence to use CLIMEX. Participants need to cover their travel and accommodation costs.

Format: The four-day course combines introductory lecture material interspersed with practical exercises to familiarise participants with the software system. Opportunities will be provided to discuss relevant topics of interest to participants. On days 3 and 4, participants will be guided as they fit a model for a case study of their own choosing. There will be some preparation work required prior to the course to select the case study organism, and to do a small amount of background research into its known distribution and ecology. At the end of the course, participants should have an advanced draft of their model. Typically, the modelling process reveals inconsistencies in the knowledge of the species distribution or ecology such that the model cannot be completed until the inconsistencies have been explored or resolved.

Download CLIMEX from the Hearne website (hearne.software) and install it onto a laptop computer that you bring to the course.

Email customerservice@hearne.software asking for a temporary unlock code, and providing the installation ID (which you can access through the Help|Registration menu in CLIMEX).

Do a Google search for the names of potential case study species that you would like to model and the keyword “CLIMEX”. It is preferable to choose a species that has not been modelled previously.

Email darren.kriticos (at) csiro.au with a short list of taxa that you would like to use as your case study species. He will discuss the suitability of the species with you and provide further guidance on the type of background material you might wish to read.

Collate data describing the present known distribution of the species, and convert it to a shapefile of points. Guidance will be provided if required.